Imagine that for the last three months, you have had a very bad headache – the worst in your life – that won’t go away, even when you take aspirin. In addition to the headache you have also been feeling dizzy.

Imagine that you are the parent of a 1-month-old infant. You are worried that an infant who is this uncomfortable, and that spits up this much, might not be healthy. So, you decided to take your infant to the doctor to be checked.

Imagine that you have just been diagnosed with high cholesterol. You are asked to decide whether or not take a type of drug called a statin to lower your cholesterol. In order to help you decide, you are given information about the risk and benefits of taking statins.

It's 2009. You've been following the news about the H1N1 influenza as developments have unfolded throughout the year, and you feel some concern. You have been wondering about the risk of coming down with the H1N1 flu yourself and have been thinking about whether you should be vaccinated.